Azamat Tazhayakov accused of removing items from dorm room

A friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a naive college kid who was prosecuted because he was a "friend of the bomber," a defense lawyer said Wednesday, while prosecutors told a jury the man was an active participant in a plan to protect Tsarnaev by removing altered fireworks and other items from his dorm room.

The descriptions came during closing arguments in the first trial stemming from the 2013 bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 260. Azamat Tazhayakov, 20, is charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Capin said Tazhayakov knew Tsarnaev was a bombing suspect after he and other friends saw photos and video of Tsarnaev released by the FBI on April 18, 2013.

Hours later, Capin said, Tazhayakov and two other friends, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos, went to Tsarnaev's dorm room at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth after Tsarnaev sent Kadyrbayev a text message telling them they could go to his room and "take what's there."

"The agreement to remove items is a crime," prosecutor John Capin told jurors in his closing argument.

Capin said Tazhayakov became "scared" when he saw fireworks that had been emptied of gunpowder in Tsarnaev's backpack, because Tsarnaev had told him and other friends weeks before the marathon bombings that gunpowder is one of the ingredients needed to make a bomb. Capin said that when Kadyrbayev found a jar of Vaseline, he told Tazhayakov, "This is what he uses to make bombs." The Vaseline was later found in Tsarnaev's backpack when agents recovered it in a landfill.

But Tazhayakov's lawyer, Matthew Myers, said Tazhayakov and Phillipos sat passively watching a movie in Tsarnaev's dorm room as Kadyrbayev took the backpack. Myers said Kadyrbayev decided to throw away the bag after his girlfriend ordered him to "get it out of the apartment."

"(Tazhayakov) was in touch with Tsarnaev before the bombing, he was in touch with Tsarnaev immediately after the bombing," Capin said, suggesting he had knowledge of Tsarnaev's alleged involvement.

Myers said Tazhayakov was prosecuted simply because he was a "friend of the bomber."

"How much of an obstructer could he be if the 'smoking gun' so to speak is on the bed? So, that's for the jury to decide," Myers said.

The jury began deliberating Wednesday afternoon.

"They reminded the jury that this is a case about a lot more than just friendship. What they're arguing and what they need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt is that this defendant intentionally impeded the Marathon investigation," said David Frank of Lawyer's Weekly.

In the courtroom for the closing arguments was Marc Fucarile, who lost his right leg in the attack. Liz Norden, the mother of two men who each lost a leg in the bombings, also was in court.

Kadyrbayev will be tried separately in September. Phillipos, who is charged with lying to investigators, also faces a separate trial.

Tsarnaev is awaiting a November trial and faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.

Prosecutors allege Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, carried out the bombings and killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer days later. Tamerlan Tsarnaev died following a shootout with police the night the officer was killed. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured hiding in a boat in a Watertown backyard.

AREA ONLY WITH ONE MORE WAVE OF LOW PRESSURE. I WILL LET YOU KNOW ABOUT THE IMPROVEMENT TO COME IN A LITTLE WHILE. J.C. A JURY GETS CASE IN THE TRIAL OF A FRIEND OF BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING SUSPECT DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV. THEY WILL DECIDE IF AZAMAT TAZHAYAKOV IS GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY AND OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE. TODD KAZAKIEWICH IS LIVE OUTSIDE THE FEDERAL COURT IN BOSTON. THE JUDGE JUST SENT THE JURY HOME. NO VERDICT AFTER 2 1/2, 3 HOURS OF DELIBERATIONS. PROBABLY NO SURPRISE THERE. EARLIER IN THE TAY, A LOT OF TIME WAS SPENT TALKING ABOUT THE NOW INFAMOUS BACKPACK. AND FROM THE PROSECUTION STANDPOINT THIS DOESN'T MATTER IF TAZHAYAKOV TOUCHED THE BACK PACK. THE AGREEMENT TO ROW MOVE ITEMS IS A CRIME THE PROSECUTOR TOLD JURORS. REFERRING TO ITEMS IN DZHOKHAR TSARNAEV'S BACK PACK WHICH CONTAINED POTENTIAL BOMB MAKING EVIDENCE. AZAMAT TAZHAYAKOV IS CHARGED CHARGED WITH OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE AND C CONSPIRACY. PROSECUTORS SAY THEY WENT TO THE DORM ROOM TO REMOVE EVIDENCE TO "PROTECT THEIR FRIEND DZHOKHAR." KADYRBAYEV LEFT BEHIND A KEY PIECE OF EVIDENCE TSARNAEV P. INFAMOUS WHITE HAT. HE WAS IN TOUCH WITH HIM BEFORE THE BOMBING AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE BOMBING SUGGESTING THAT TAZHAYAKOV HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE ALLEGED INVOLVEMENT. ON MONDAY THE JURY WAS SHOWN THIS SURVEILLANCE VIDEO. THEY CONTEND THAT TAZHAYAKOV'S WEB SEARCHES AND TEXT CONVERSATIONS PROVE THAT HE KNEW WHO THE BOMBERS WERE EVEN BEFORE THE F.B.I. AND THEY SAY HE INITIALLY REFUSED TO COOPERATE WITH INVESTIGATORS. THIS IS MORE THAN JUST FRIENDSHIP. WHAT THEY ARE ARGUING AND NEED TO PROVE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT IS THAT THIS DEFENDANT INTENTIONALLY IMPETED IMPEDED THE INVESTIGATION. THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY SAID THE REALITY IS IN HIS WORDS COLLEGE KIDS THINK DIFFERENTLY. HE SAYS HIS

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